3 reasons why a hypothetical Jeff Skinner trade makes no sense for the Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres should be one of the more active teams this offseason, and perhaps a Jeff Skinner trade would be one of those blindside moves.
In a previous article, we talked about why a hypothetical Jeff Skinner trade would make sense for the Buffalo Sabres. Today, we’re on the same topic, except now it’s the opposite: Why trading a player like Jeff Skinner would make no sense for the Blue and Gold in 2024.
Okay, so before we go any further, you may be wondering why Jeff Skinner and not someone else closer to an expiring contract? For one, Skinner’s heading into his age-32 season, he’s due $10 million again this year, he’s mainly a one-dimensional player, and nobody else was more disappointing from a productivity standpoint - Skinner had just 46 points this past year despite still putting up 24 goals.
Despite holding a no-movement clause, which Skinner could still waive, he is the likeliest player to be traded. Alex Tuch, 28, is the only other player who would suit a blockbuster-style hypothetical trade like this, but it would be very, very tough to see general manager Kevyn Adams moving such a solid player he brought in a few years back.
As for Skinner, Adams inherited him and his monster contract, so it would be more likely for the general manager to get rid of someone like Skinner in favor of bringing in his own guy.
Despite the upside, trading Jeff Skinner may not make sense for the Sabres
We know Skinner was one of the Sabres better players when he first joined the team in 2018-19 before a pair of forgettable seasons possibly made the Sabres suffer through some buyer’s regret. That hasn’t been the case since 2021-22, and because Skinner has turned around his game for the better, that fact alone makes it easy to argue why trading him would make zero sense.
But let’s dive deeper than that and talk about three primary reasons hypothetically trading a player like Skinner in what should be an offseason of eye-popping roster transactions for the Sabres wouldn’t be such a good idea.
Jeff Skinner is still one of the Sabres most productive players
Constant instability is one hindrance Sabres fans have been through many times since their last playoff appearance in 2011, and trading a player who has since become one of its best scorers and longer-tenured players makes no sense on the surface, even if there will be lineup changes this offseason. If Skinner was still playing the way he did in 2019-20 and 2020-21, dumping his contract onto another team would be a perfect idea, assuming he agreed to it, but that isn’t the case in 2024.
While Skinner didn’t play as well last season, he was still their third-best scorer with 24 goals. He’s been one of the few players for the Blue and Gold to have enjoyed sustained success, even with the drop-off, over the past three seasons, much like Alex Tuch, Rasmus Dahlin, and Tage Thompson.
While trading Skinner would make sense in making room to add perhaps a player with more upside at this point onto the top line, it doesn’t come without risk. The Sabres know they’re getting a productive player in Skinner, and they also know what he has given them on the top line in the past.
With a new head coach in Lindy Ruff and a lineup that has performed better than what we saw during the late 2010s, the Sabres need to keep those pieces that have given them better returns. Sure, they need to improve the lineup, but it’s a major risk to make improvements if it means potentially doing so at the expense of moving a player like Skinner.
Skinner is showing zero signs of slowing down
Kevyn Adams must add talent to the Sabres forward group, and few fans would argue against that. You would even be correct to state that Adams would make the team even better off if he added two forwards, preferably someone with top-six capabilities and a depth scorer.
While Skinner’s play dipped last season, injuries to himself and his top linemates didn’t make an already challenging campaign any easier. While he will be entering his 15th full season and his age-32 campaign, it makes no sense to trade anyone who, though older, is a productive player who can still compete at a high level.
Yeah, you can argue that trading Skinner away and signing (or potentially acquiring) a forward who brings a more balanced game makes sense, and it does. But for a team that needs to hang onto all the scorers it can, losing Skinner in a trade would hurt. It would be one thing if he slipped up some last season, but he was still a productive player when healthy.
Regardless of who the Sabres bring in to help the forward group, Skinner’s play would benefit from them. Until he starts showing signs that he consistently can’t perform the same way he once did, keep him in Buffalo and let him keep playing solid hockey.
The Sabres can’t afford to lose a dynamic power play scorer
If there’s one area the Sabres can’t afford leaving to chance, it’s the power play, and you watched them on the man advantage this past season, you can see why. Over the past two seasons, Skinner scored 16 power play goals and 33 points at 5-on-4. He was also second on the team this past season, next to Tage Thompson, in power play goals with eight.
Blueliner Rasmus Dahlin was the only one who came close to Skinner and Tage on the power play, finding the net six times. Here’s another interesting statistic: While the trio scored 23 power play goals, the rest of the Sabres scored just 14 times. So yeah, trading Skinner before they find someone else to fill what would be a massive void in the scoring realm on the power play isn’t feasible.
Especially if the Sabres struggle through a repeat of last season on the man advantage. It would be worse doing so without Skinner’s presence. This isn’t saying the Sabres wouldn’t get active in the free agent and trade market if they moved a player like Skinner, but doing so at the expense of the power play wouldn’t help this team unless Kevyn Adams had a contingency plan.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)